Orgrim Doomhammer
Orgrim Doomhammer, also known as the Backstabber, was the Warchief of the Horde during the end of the First War and the entirety of the Second War. The First and Second Wars When Gul'dan fell into a coma, trying to pry the secrets from the head of the dying Medivh, Orgrim took this chance to seize power by killing Warchief Blackhand, and as many necrolytes and warlocks as he could manage. Doomhammer also captured Garona and tortured her into revealing the location of the Shadow Council. left|thumb|Gul'dan "submitting" to Doomhammer. Unlike Blackhand, Doomhammer would not be a puppet to Gul'dan and his Shadow Council. When Gul'dan awoke, he found that the new Warchief intended to slay him as well. Begging at Doomhammer's feet, Gul'dan told him he would create an army of all-powerful necromancers, loyal to the Warchief: the death knights. Doomhammer readily agreed, despite suspecting Gul'dan of treachery. He was correct in this; when the Horde was ready to launch a massive attack on Lordaeron, Gul'dan's clan and those loyal to him abandoned the Horde and set sail to the south. Chasing him to the Tomb of Sargeras, Blackrock troops engaged both the Stormreaver and Twilight's Hammer forces. Gul'dan and his warlocks entered the Tomb of Sargeras but were slain by the demons within. Weakened by loses caused by Gul'dan's treachery, Doomhammer was forced to fall back from the human capital of Lordaeron to his fortress at Blackrock Spire. There he fought the final battle of the Second War against the Alliance of Lordaeron. Despite the fact that he was able to defeat the human commander and mighty hero, Anduin Lothar, in battle, the war ended ultimately in his defeat. Doomhammer was captured and kept as a prisoner in the palace of King Terenas of Lordaeron. Somehow he escaped, and later became a wanderer. Meeting with Thrall One day, he was contacted by Drek'thar of the Frostwolf Clan. The shaman informed Doomhammer that there was a young orc staying with the Frostwolves high in the mountains of Alterac. This orc had been discovered to be the long-lost son of Durotan, who had escaped after being raised a slave by humans and had begun searching for his people. Durotan's son, Thrall, was determined to find a way to free the captive orcs and restore them to their former glory. Orgrim had heard of this Thrall before from Grom Hellscream, whom Thrall had met before he began searching for his clan. Hellscream has had nothing but good things to say about the youth. Intrigued, Doomhammer paid a visit to the Frostwolves to see Thrall for himself, but made it clear beforehand that he didn't want Thrall to know who he was. When Doomhammer arrived nobody referred to him by name or told Thrall about him. So when Thrall saw Doomhammer that night he did not realize he was dealing with the former leader of the Horde of whom he had heard so many great things; he only saw a strange orc warming himself by the fire. As the night wore on Thrall became increasingly annoyed by the secretiveness of the stranger, and his talk of how there was no point in trying to fight the humans. When Thrall insisted that the freedom of the orcs was worth fighting for, the stranger asked him what he was doing hiding in the mountains with the other Frostwolves if he really believed that. Becoming more angry, Thrall argued that he would travel south in the spring to join Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan, that together they would storm the camps and liberate all of the orcish prisoners. The stranger scoffed at the notion and contemptuously dismissed Hellscream as a "demon-ridden dreamer." Thrall had heard enough and challenged this stranger who had repaid the hospitality of the Frostwolves with insults to single battle. This was precisely what Doomhammer had hoped would happen. He had implied the Frostwolves were cowards and that the orcs as a race could not defeat the humans in order to see whether Thrall would stand up for his clan and people, and Thrall had not disappointed him. Now Doomhammer would see whether Thrall's fighting skill was equally impressive. thumb| The Liberation of the Orcs Losing to the young shaman, and being shown mercy, he revealed himself as the Warchief. At first Thrall was aghast at how he had treated such an important person as Orgrim Doomhammer and began to apologize profusely, but Orgrim stopped him and told him it was not necessary, explaining his reasons for staying anonymous. He went on to explain that he had a plan to break free the imprisoned orcs, and Thrall and Drek'thar agreed to help. Along with Hellscream and the Warsongs, they stormed four internment camps, freeing the orcs inside with ease. At the fifth, however, the Alliance was prepared. They ambushed the orcs, and Orgrim was slain by a strike to the back - impaled by a guard's spear, which went right through his black plate armor, its tip causing a noticable bulge on the inside of the front breastplate. With his last breaths, Orgrim gave the title of Warchief, along with his great warhammer and black armor, to Thrall. The former internment camp is now the Horde base of Hammerfall, in the Arathi Highlands. Going with him in many battles, the hammer and armor has served Thrall well, and now sits with him atop his throne in Orgrimmar, capital of the Horde, named after the great Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer. His hammer and armor, upon the new leader of the Horde, await the next time they are called to battle in defense of the Horde. 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